That is a loaded question. Without getting into philosophical quagmires, I am a researcher in Anthropology, a human rights activist, I have been a research coordinator at Cultural Survival, I am a member of the Italian League of Human Rights, an artist and teacher, a poet and writer, a photographer and, last but not least, a mom and wife. In other words, just an average woman. I love painting, knitting little things for my granddaughter, cooking ancient Roman foods, herb gardening, folk dancing and walking around archaeological sites or active volcanoes. I had been a stay-at-home-mom for many years before I went back to college, earning so far a Master degree in Anthropology. Did you notice the "so far"?...I love spending time with my grown children, when their busy schedules permit, and with my granchildren. I grew up in Italy and I have based most of my research there. I have been visiting Hawai'i lately and I have worked on a line of research on human rights issues concerning native Hawaiians. But, being Hawai'i, it's impossible not to sketch and write poetry...and do a step ot two of Hula....

Let's procede to my Curriculum Vitae, which is a little long, but then I have been busy for this many years.

2008-present Initiated research on the history of the Dante Alighieri society of Massachusetts. The result of this research is a book completed in September 2009

June 2003 to 2005 Initiated research on the native movements in Hawai’i, continued in 2004 and 2005

September 2000 to 2006: Field research in Italy on the Roma (Gypsies) and their integration in Italian society, on the Griki and Grecanici, linguistic minorities in Southern Italy, and on the linguistic minorities in the Padania region in Northern Italy

From June 2000 to 2005: Library, Internet and field research in Canada on the Innu of Labrador

From June1999 to present Library, Internet and field research in Italy on Italian Ethnic Minorities on the Internet

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

2010-present Various papers in La Dante, newsletter of the Dante Alighieri Society

2009 The Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts: One Hundred Years in the Defense of Italian Language and Culture Book on the history of the Society. In English and Italian

Quinn Press, University of Massachusetts.

2009 The Promise Poem winner of 1st prize in a poetry contest sponsored by the newspaper The Village Reporter and the Boxford Cultural Council

2009 Here Poem published in The Village Reporter

2008 Cyberspace and Ethnic Identities: the Creation of Virtual Communities.

2010 The Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts: Lecture at the Burlington chapter of the Sons of Italy

2009 The Dante Alighieri Society of Massachusetts: Presentation of the book at the headquarters of the Society in Cambridge, Massachusetts

Lecture repeated at Salem College on April 21 2010

June 2009 Spokesperson of the Dante Alighieri Society at the Conference of Italo- American societies in New York, at the request of the Secretary General Alessandro Masi

2009 Simultaneous translator at various events at the Dante Alighieri Society

2007 women Healers or Witches? The perception of Women Healers in Italy through the ages. With Augusto Ferraiuolo. Lecture given at the Dante Alighieri Society, Cambridge, MA

2006 and 2007 Cena Romana an authentic ancient Roman banquet in occasion of October Italian Heritage Month with the cooperation of the Dante Alighieri Society and October Italian Heritage Month committee

2006 Ethnic Identities in Cyberspace: Italy, Ethnicity, the European Union and the Internet. The URL as Villaggio Virtuale. Lecture given at the Dante Alighieri Society, Cambridge, MA. A copy of thesis presented to the society.

2005 Citizens School Project: Directing a group of Middle School students in producing a mural at Robinson Middle School, Lowell, MA

2005 and 2006 An Evening of Italian Culture. Readings of local Italian American poets and of Italian dialectical poets, translated in English and Italian. At the Caffe` Paradiso, Lowell, MA.

2002 Church Politics in Counter-Reformation Italy: The Dominican, the Butcher Knife, and the Santa Inquisizione. Paper presented at the Association of American Teachers of Italian conference in Toronto, Canada November 6-10 2002

2002 Carnevale: Guest Lecturer at Wellesley College Department of Foreign Languages, January 2002.

2001 Who are we? We are Different, and The Modern Family in a linguistic Minority in Italy. Guest Lecturer, M.I.T. Department of Anthropology.

Cornomannia: the Jester of the Sacristy Lecture on a ceremony in Medieval Rome given in Treviso and Venice, Italy, for the annual Conference of the Association of American Teachers of Italian Language

2000 The Roman origins of Carnevale: lecture given at the annual Conference of American Teachers of Italian, Boston, MA

“I Dialetti Italiani” Lecture on the origin of some Italian dialects given at the Centro Letterario Italiano, Boston MA. In Italian.

1999 “From the past to the Millennium: Food as Natural Medicine in Italy” A treatise on current Italian foods used as medicines in ancient Rome. And

History of Carnival: from the Roman Saturnalia to Mardi Gras” An historical survey of the history of Carnival. Lectures given at the Massachusetts Foreign Languages Teachers Association in Sturbridge, Ma, on October 28/29

1988-2004 Lectures on ancient art and life style in the Lexington area